Adenovirus formulations

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to viral formulations and related pharmaceutical products for use in gene therapy and/or vaccine applications. Especially preferred viral formulations disclosed herein are liquid adenovirus formulations, which show improved stability when stored in about the 2-8° C. range while also being compatible with parenteral administration. These formulations comprise a buffer, a sugar, a salt, a divalent cation, a non-ionic detergent, as well as a free radical scavenger and/or a chelating agent to inhibit free radical oxidation.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.09/799,937, filed Mar. 6, 2001, abandoned, which claims benefit, under35 U.S.C. §119(e), to U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/187,440,filed Mar. 7, 2000.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY-SPONSORED R&D

Not Applicable

REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX

Not Applicable

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to viral formulations and relatedpharmaceutical products for use in gene therapy and/or vaccineapplications. Especially preferred viral formulations disclosed hereinare liquid adenovirus formulations, which show improved stability whenstored in about the 2-8° C. range while also being compatible withparenteral administration. These formulations may comprise a buffer, asugar, a salt, a divalent cation, a non-ionic detergent, as well as afree radical scavenger and/or chelating agent to inhibit free radicaloxidation. An especially preferred stabilized virus formulationdisclosed herein is a formulation based on inclusion of one or acombination of excipients that inhibit free radical oxidation, which areshown herein to increase stability of adenovirus formulations overcommercially acceptable periods of time in about the 2-8° C. range.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

An ongoing challenge in the field of gene therapy and vaccine researchis to generate liquid virus formulations which are stable for longerperiods of time within a useful temperature range, such as from about 2°C. to about 8° C. Adenovirus vectors are currently considered one of theleading approaches for gene delivery/therapy. Because of the greatpotential for adenoviruses in the field of gene therapy, there remains aneed for virus formulations that are suitable for human parenteral use,and have a 1-2 year shelf-life at 2-8° C. Although the U.S. military hasdeveloped live adenovirus vaccines for human use, they were lyophilizedformulations delivered as oral dosage forms in enteric coated capsules(Chanock, et al., 1966, J. Am. Med. Assoc. 195: 151-158; Griffin, etal., 1970, Arch. Intern. Med. 125: 981-986; Top, et al., 1971, J.Infect. Dis. 124: 148-154). The excipients used in these earlylyophilized formulations (gelatin, skim milk, human serum albumin) makethese lyophilized formulations very unattractive for human parenteraladministration. Despite reports on the structure and characterization ofadenoviruses, there has been little published on the development ofstabilization and formulation of adenovirus for parenteraladministration in humans. Furthermore, most of the formulation workconcerns lyophilized rather than aqueous formulations, presumablybecause the prospects for a stable liquid formulation seemed ratherpoor.

There are some limited reports of liquid formulations of adenovirus withstability data.

WO99/41416 discloses virus formulations which contain glycerol, sodiumphosphate, Tris, sucrose, MgCl₂, and polysorbate 80. The most stableformulation reported lost 0.52 logs of infectivity in one year at 4 C.

WO98/02522 discloses virus formulations with concentrations of sucrosefrom about 0.75M to 1.5M sucrose. Such a formulation would not beacceptable for human parenteral use.

Nyberg-Hoffman et al. (1999, Nature Medicine 5 (8): 955-956) disclosefrozen liquid adenoviral formulations which contain Tris, sucrose andMgCl₂.

Croyle et al. (1998, Pharm. Dev. Technol. 3 (3): 373-383) discloselyophilized, frozen liquid and liquid virus formulations that containTris and phosphate buffered solutions with high concentrations ofsucrose, trehalose or sorbitol/gelatin.

Therefore, the need remains for the development of a recombinant virusliquid formulation that is stable for approximately 1-2 years at 2-8° C.and compatible with parenteral administration. Such a liquid formulationoffers advantages such as lower overall cost, decreased development timeand ease of use for the customer. The present invention addresses andmeets these needs by disclosing improved recombinant virus liquidformulations which show enhanced stability for longer periods of time attemperatures in the range of 2-8° C.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to stabilized virus formulations andrelated pharmaceutical products for use in gene therapy and/or vaccineapplications. A preferred viral formulation, as disclosed herein, mayrelated to liquid formulations which comprise a recombinant adenovirus,formulations which show improved viral stability when stored in aboutthe 2-8° C. range and higher while also being compatible with parenteraladministration. These formulations may comprise a buffer, a sugar, asalt, a divalent cation, a non-ionic detergent, as well as additionalcomponents which enhance stability of the included virus, including butnot limited to a free radical scavenger and/or a chelating agent. Theadenoviral-based formulations of the present invention are amenable toprolonged storage at 2° C. to 8° C. and higher for periods approachingtwo years. The recombinant viruses of the present invention which showenhanced storage stability include but are not limited to adenovirus,adeno-associated virus, retroviruses, herpes virus, vaccinia virus,rotovirus, pox viruses. The preferred virus is an adenovirus, includingbut not limited to human Ad5, Ad2, Ad6, Ad24 serotypes, and especiallyrecombinant adenoviral virus for use in human gene therapy or humangene-based vaccination technology, including a prophylactic ortherapeutic application utilizing such a gene-based vaccinationtechnology.

The formulations of the present invention are (i) optimally a bufferedsolution and further comprise (ii) a minimal amount of at least onenon-ionic surfactant; (iii) a divalent cation; (iv) a cryoprotectant;(v) a salt, and (vi), preferably inclusion of one or more additionalexcipients that act as inhibitors of free radical oxidation. Theformulations of the present invention rely on a useful range of totalosmolarity which promotes long term stability at temperatures of 2-8°C., or higher, while also making the formulation useful for parenteral,and especially intramuscular, injection.

To this end, a first embodiment of the present invention relates to aseries of adenovirus formulations (including but not limited to arecombinant adenovirus) which comprise Tris as the buffer, sucrose asthe cryoprotectant, NaCl as the salt, MgCl₂ as the divalent cation andeither Polysorbate-80 or Polysorbate-40 as the surfactant.

A second embodiment of the present invention relates to inclusion of oneor more inhibitors of free radical oxidation, including both metal ionchelators and hydroxyl radical scavengers, which are shown herein toenhance short and long term stability of the virus formulationsdescribed herein (again, including but not limited to an adenovirus,including a recombinant adenovirus containing a transgene, or portionthereof, which is useful in gene therapy and/or gene vaccinationtechnology). Therefore, a preferred embodiment of the present inventionis a viral formulation which contains one or more components which actas an inhibitor of free radical oxidation. It is shown herein thataddition of these components enhance long term stability at temperaturesup through the 2-8° C. range, or higher, when compared to coreformulations which do not contains these inhibitors. These formulationsare also compatible with parenteral administration. To this end, thepresent invention relates to a virus formulation which contains at leastone inhibitor of free radical oxidation which effectively enhancesstability of the virus-containing formulation. While the exemplifiedadenovirus-based formulations such as A113 represent a preferredformulation, these formulations in no way suggest a limitation toadditional formulations and methods of use based on alternativeformulations components.

A third core embodiment of the present invention comprises inclusion,alone or in combination with free radical oxidation inhibitors, aneffective amount of plasmid DNA, which is shown to effectively increasethe long term stability of a virus formulation and conditions asdescribed throughout this specification. Therefore, the presentinvention also relates to a virus formulation which contains an amountof a nucleic acid such that addition of the nucleic acid effectivelyenhances stability of the virus-containing formulation.

The enhanced long-term stability up through the 2-8° C. range results inan extended shelf life of the virus formulations disclosed herein,allowing for storage and eventual host administration of these liquidformulations over about a 1-2 year period with acceptable losses invirus infectivity. In addition, formulations of the present inventionshow stability through extended freeze/thaw cycles.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the effects of one freeze/thaw cycle (from −70° C. to 5°C.) on the recovery/stability of Ad5gag in formulations A101 throughA107.

FIG. 2 shows the effect of 1 to 3 freeze/thaw cycles on therecovery/stability of Ad5gag in formulations A101 through A107.

FIG. 3 shows the loss of infectivity of Ad5gag in formulations A101through A107.

FIG. 4 shows the effect of 12 freeze/thaw cycles on the stability ofAd5gag in A105 at 10⁸, 10¹⁰ and 10¹¹ vp/mL.

FIG. 5 shows the effect that freezing, thawing and a 15° C. incubationhave on the infectivity of Ad5gag in A105.

FIG. 6 shows short-term stability (72 hours) of Ad5gag in formulationsA102, A105, A106 and A107 at 1×10⁷ vp/mL and 1×10⁹ vp/mL.

FIG. 7 shows short-term stability (up to 28 days) of Ad5gag informulations A105, A106 and A107 at 2-8° C.

FIG. 8 shows short-term stability (up to 28 days) of Ad5gag informulations A105, A106 and A107 at 15° C.

FIG. 9 shows short-term stability (up to 28 days) of Ad5gag informulations A105, A106 and A107 at 25° C.

FIG. 10 shows short-term stability (up to 28 days) of Ad5gag informulations A105, A106 and A107 at 37° C.

FIG. 11 shows an Arrhenius plot of Ad5gag inactivation at pH 7.4 and pH8.6.

FIG. 12 shows the effect of pH on Ad5gag infectivity at 2-8° C., 15° C.and 25° C.

FIG. 13 shows the effect of pH on the long-term stability (up to 12months) of Ad5gag at 15° C. and 25° C.

FIG. 14 shows the effect of pH on the long-term stability (12 months) ofAd5gag at 2-8° C.

FIG. 15 shows the effect of MgCl₂ on Ad5gag stability at 2-8° C., 15° C.and 30° C.

FIG. 16 shows the effect of MgCl₂ concentration on Ad5gag stability at30° C.

FIG. 17 shows the effect of polysorbate-80 (PS-80) on the stability ofAd5gag at 2-8° C., 15° C. and 30° C.

FIG. 18 shows the effect of polysorbate-80 (PS-80) concentration on thestability of Ad5gag at 2-8° C., 15° C. and 30° C.

FIG. 19 shows the effect of polysorbate-80 (PS-80) concentration on thestability of Ad5gag at 25° C. and 30° C. for one month.

FIG. 20 shows the effect of polysorbate type (PS-80 and PS-40) on thestability of Ad5gag at 25° C. and 30° C.

FIG. 21 shows the effect of virus concentration on stability at 37° C.

FIG. 22 shows the effect of ascorbic acid and iron on Ad5gag stability.

FIG. 23 shows the effect of oxidation inhibitors on Ad5gag stability at2-8° C., 15° C. and 30° C.

FIG. 24 shows the stability of Ad5gag at −70° C. and −15° C., between10⁷ and 10⁹ vp/mL.

FIG. 25 shows the stability of Ad5gag in A105 at −70° C. at 10⁹ vp/mLand 10¹¹ vp/mL.

FIG. 26 shows the stability of Ad5gag in A105 at −15° C. at 10⁹ vp/mLand 10¹¹ vp/mL.

FIG. 27 shows the effect of combining PS-80 and EDTA/Ethanol on Ad5gagstability at 25° C. and 30° C. for 1 month.

FIG. 28 shows the effect of various oxidations inhibitors on Ad5gagstability at 1 and 2 months at 30° C. as shown with formulations A113,A132, A133, A134, A135, A136 and A137.

FIG. 29 shows the long-term stability of Ad5gag in selected formulationsafter 18 months of storage at 2-8° C.

FIG. 30 shows the long-term stability of Ad5gag in additional selectedformulations after one year of storage at 2-8° C.

FIG. 31 shows the stability of Ad5gag in selected formulations after 9months of storage at 2-8° C. and 15° C.

FIG. 32 shows the stability of Ad5gag in selected formulations of thepresent invention compared to Ad5gag stability in formulations disclosedby Transgene and Schering-Plough, after 9 months of storage at 2-8° C.and 15° C.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to formulations which stabilize arespective virus component and to related pharmaceutical products,preferably for use in gene therapy and/or vaccine applications. Apreferred stabilized virus containing formulation disclosed herein isliquid adenovirus formulation, which shows improved stability whenstored in about the 2-8° C. range and higher while also being compatiblewith parenteral administration. These preferred formulations which areable to stabilize a respective virus (such as a recombinant adenovirus)may comprise a buffer, a sugar, a salt, a divalent cation, a non-ionicdetergent, as well as additional components which enhance stability tothe added virus, including but not limited to a free radical scavengerand/or a chelating agent (i.e., an inhibitor of free radical oxidation).In addition to excellent viral stability for prolonged periods of timeat −70° C. and −20° C., the formulations which comprise variousconcetrations of adenovirus are amenable to prolonged storage at 2° C.to 8° C. and higher for periods up to at least one to two years. Thevirus forumulations which may show enhanced long term storage stabilityinclude but are not necessarily limited to adenovirus, adeno-associatedvirus, retroviruses, herpes virus, vaccinia virus, rotovirus, poxviruses. The preferred virus is a human adenovirus, especially aserotype from a subgroup which shows negligible or no tumor growth inanimals, such as subgroup C (Ad1, Ad2, Ad5 and Ad6), subgroup D (Ad8,Ad9, Ad10, Ad13, Ad15, Ad17, Ad19, Ad20, Ad22, Ad23, Ad24, Ad25Ad26,Ad27, Ad28, Ad29, Ad30, Ad32, Ad33, Ad36, Ad37, Ad38, Ad39, Ad42, Ad43,Ad44, Ad45, Ad46, and Ad4) and subgroup E (Ad4). For an exhaustiveadenovirus classification scheme, see Fundamental Virology, 3^(rd)Edition, Ch. 30 @ page 980, Ed. Fields, et al. 1996, Lippincott-Raven.Especially preferred serotypes are selected C serotypes Ad5, Ad2, andAd6 and subgroup D serotype Ad24. With the guidance provided by thisspecification, the skilled artisan may adapt the formulations dislcosedherein to non-exemplified adenovirus serotyoes as well as other viruses.To this end, the present invention relates to the use of theseformulations to stabilize alternative purified virus, and to thecompositions thereof.

The formulations of the present invention provide stability toadenovirus at varying degrees of virus concentration and may beadministered to a variety of vertebrate organisms, perferably mammalsand especially humans. The stabilized viral formulations of the presentinvention are preferably recombinant adenovirus-based compositions,wherein administed as a vaccine, for example, may offer a prophylacticadvantage to previously uninfected individuals and/or provide atherapeutic effect by reducing viral load levels within an infectedindividual, thus prolonging the asymptomatic phase of a particularmicrobial infection, such as an HIV infection. A preferred aspect of theinvention is a recombinant adenovirus formulation (i.e., an adenoviruscontaining a whole or a portion of a transgene which is expressed withinthe target host subsequent to host administration, such as in anymammalian/human gene therapy- or gene vaccination-based methodologyavailable to the skilled artisan) which shows enhanced stabilitycharacteristics described herein with a virus concentration in the rangefrom about 1×10⁷ vp/mL (virus particles/millileter) to about 1×10¹³vp/mL. A more preferred range is from about 1×10⁹ to 1×10¹² vp/mL, withan especially preferred virus concentration being from about 1×10¹¹ to1×10¹² vp/mL. Therapeutic, prophylactic or diagnostic compositions ofthe formulations of the present invention are administered to anindividual in amounts sufficient to treat, prevent or diagnose therespective disorder. The effective amount for human administration may,of course, vary according to a variety of factors such as theindividual's condition, weight, sex and age. Other factors include themode of administration. The amount of expressible DNA to be administeredto a human recipient will depend on the strength of the transcriptionaland translational promoters used in the recombinant viral construct,and, if used as a vaccine, on the immunogenicity of the expressed geneproduct, as well as the level of pre-existing immunity to a virus suchas adenovirus. The formulations of the present invention are optimally abuffered solution. It will be known to one of skill in the art toprovide virus formulations of the present invention in a physiologicallyacceptable buffer, preferably but not necessarily limited to aformulation buffered with Tris (tromethamine), histidine, phosphate,citrate, succinate, acetate, glycine, and borate, within a pH rangeincluding but not limited to about 7.0 to about 9.0, preferably a pHrange from about 7.5 to about 8.5. Tris is preferred in the exemplifiedformulations disclosed herein.

An additional aspect of the formulations of the present inventionrelates to a formulation which comprises a minimal amount of at leastone non-ionic surfactant added to reduce adsorption to containersurfaces as well as possibly providing increased virus stabilization.Non-ionic surfactants for use in the formulations of the presentinvention include but are not limited to polyoxyethylene sorbitan fattyacid esters, including but not limited to Polysorbate-80 (Tween 80®),Polysorbate-60 (Tween 60®), Polysorbate-40 (Tween 40®) andPolysorbate-20 (Tween 20®), polyoxyethylene alkyl ethers, including butnot limited to Brij 58®, Brij 35®, as well as others such as TritonX-100®, Triton X-114®, NP40®, Span 85 and the Pluronic series ofnon-ionic surfactants (e.g., Pluronic 121).

An additional component which further stabilizes the added viralcomponent comprise the addition of at least one salt of a divalentcation, including but not necessarily limited to MgCl₂, CaCl₂ and MnCl₂.The preferred divalent cations are MgCl₂ and CaCl₂ at a concentrationranging from about 0.1 mM to about 5 mM.

Another component which contributes to virus stabilization over largetemperature ranges and for prolonged storage periods is acryoprotectant, especially at concentrations amenable to humanadministration. Cyroprotectants include but are not necessarily limitedto addition of polyhydroxy hydrocarbons such as sorbitol, mannitol,glycerol and dulcitol and/or disaccharides such as sucrose, lactose,maltose or trehalose.

An additional component of the formulations of the present inventionwhich enhance viral stability comprise a salt, including but notnecessarily limited to sodium chloride, sodium sulfate, and ammoniumsulfate, present at an ionic strength which is physiologicallyacceptable to the host. A purpose of inclusion of a salt in theformulation is to attain the desired ionic strength or osmolarity.Contributions to ionic strength may come from ions produced by thebuffering compound as well as from the ions of non-buffering salts.

A centerpiece of the formulations of the present invention which enhanceviral stability relate to inclusion of components that act as inhibitorsof free radical oxidation. As noted throughout the specification, virusstability in a pharmaceutical formulation may be effected by the type ofbuffer, salt concentration, pH, light exposure, temperature storage andthe such. It is also shown herein that components which may inhibit freeradical oxidation further enhance the stability characteristics of thecore adenoviral formulations disclosed herein. Free radical oxidationinhibitors which may be utilized include but are not necessarily limitedto ethanol (EtOH), EDTA, an EDTA/ethanol combination, triethanolamine(TEOA), mannitol, histidine, glycerol, sodium citrate, inositolhexaphosphate, tripolyphosphate, succinic and malic acid, desferal,ethylenediamine-Di(o-hydoxy-phenylacetic acid (EDDHA) anddiethylenetriaminepenta-acetic acid (DTPA), or specific combinationsthereof. It is preferred that the inhibitor of free radical oxidation beeither an EDTA/EtOH combination, EtOH alone, or triethanolamine (TEOA).It is shown herein that the combination with other components maydetermine the effectiveness of the free radical oxidation inhibitor. Forexample, the combination of EDTA/EtOH is shown to be very effective atincreasing stability, while DTPA (alone) in the absence of MgCl₂ alsoenhances stability. Therefore, the skilled artisan may “mix and match”various components, in some cases a scavenger and a chelator arerequired, while other formulations only a chelator may be required.Preferably, the choice of chelator will determine whether or not theaddition of a scavenger is needed. Additional free radical scavengersand chelators are known in the art and apply to the formulations andmethods of use described herein. It is disclosed herein that addition ofsuch inhibitors of free radical oxidation results in a substantialincrease in long term stability of liquid virus formulations. It isnoted that the present invention is not limited to use of theseexcipients only in the preferred formulations described herein, but arein fact meant to include additional, non-exemplified virus formulationswhich will be amenable to increased stability within useful temperatureranges by the addition of one or more of these compounds.

The formulations of the present invention which enhance viral stabilityrely on a useful range of total osmolarity which both promotes long termstability at temperature of 2-8° C., or higher, while also making theformulation useful for parenteral, and especially intramuscular,injection. To this end the effective range of total osmolarity (thetotal number of molecules in solution) is from about 200 mOs/L to about800 mOs/L, with a preferred range from about 250 mOs/L to about 450mOs/L. An especially preferred osmolarity for the formulations disclosedherein is about 300 mOs/L. Therefore, it will be apparent that theamount of a cyroprotectant, such as sucrose or sorbitol, will dependupon the amount of salt in the formulation in order for the totalosmolarity of the solution to remain within an appropriate range.Therefore a salt free formulation may contain from about 5% to about 25%sucrose, with a preferred range of sucrose from about 7% to about 15%,with an especially preferred sucrose concentration in a salt freeformulation being from 10% to 12%. Alternatively, a salt freesorbitol-based formulation may contain sorbitol within a range fromabout 3% to about 12%, with a preferred range from about 4% to 7%, andan especially preferred range is from about 5% to about 6% sorbitol in asalt-free formulation. Salt-free formulations will of course warrantincreased ranges of the respective cryoprotectant in order to maintaineffective osmolarity levels. To again utilize sucrose and sorbitol asexamples, and not as a limitation, an effective range of a sucrose-basedsolution in 75 mM NaCl is from about 2% about 7.5% sucrose, while asorbitol-based solution in 75 mM NaCl is from about 1% to about 4%sorbitol.

In view of the discussion above, the present invention relates to aformulation containing an adenovirus, such as a recombinant adenovirusfor use in gene therapy and/or gene vaccination applications, with showincreased viral stability properties and which at least contain abuffer, a salt, a sugar and a surfactant.

A particular embodiment of the present invention relates to such arecombinant adenovirus formulation which comprises Tris as the buffer,sucrose as the cryoprotectant, NaCl as the salt, MgCl₂ as the divalentcation and either Polysorbate-80 or Polysorbate-40 as the surfactant.

In a particular embodiment of the present invention the formulation isbuffered with Tris to a range from about pH 7.5 to about pH 8.5; sucroseis added within a range upwards of a weight to volume percentage of 10,depending upon the salt concentration; the salt being NaCl which isadded at concentration within a range of upwards of 250 mM NaCl,complementing the sucrose concentration such that total osmolarityranges from about 200 mOs/L to about 800 mOs/L; the divalent cation isMgCl₂ in a range from about 0.1 mM to about 10 mM, and the surfactant iseither Polysorbate-80 at a concentration from about 0.001% to about 1%or Polysorbate-40 at a concentration from about 0.001% to about 1%.

In a further embodiment of the present invention the formulation isbuffered with about 1 mM to about 10 mM Tris to a range from about pH7.5 to about pH 8.5; sucrose is present in a weight to volume range ofabout 2% to about 8% and NaCl is present from a range of about 25 mM toabout 250 mM, the sucrose and NaCl concentrations being complementarysuch that the total osmolarity ranges from about 200 mOs/L to about 800mOs/L; the divalent cation is MgCl₂ in a range from about 0.1 mM toabout 5 mM, and the surfactant is either Polysorbate-80 at aconcentration from about 0.001% to about 0.25% or Polysorbate-40 at aconcentration from about 0.001% to 0.25%.

In another embodiment of the present invention the formulation isbuffered with about 2.5 mM to about 7.5 mM Tris to a pH of about 8.0;sucrose is present in a weight to volume range of about 2% to about 8%and NaCl is present from a range of about 25 mM to about 250 mM, thesucrose and NaCl contributing to a total osmolarity range from about 250mOs/L to about 450 mOs/L; the divalent cation is MgCl₂ in a range fromabout 0.5 mM to about 2.5 mM, and the surfactant is eitherPolysorbate-80 at a concentration from about 0.001% to about 0.1% orPolysorbate-40 at a concentration from about 0.001% to 0.1%.

In a further embodiment of the present invention the formulation isbuffered with about 5.0 mM Tris to a pH of about 8.0; sucrose is presentin a weight to volume range of about 4% to about 6% and NaCl is presentfrom a range of about 50 mM to about 100 mM, the sucrose and NaClcontributing to a total osmolarity range from about 250 mOs/L to about450 mOs/L; the divalent cation is MgCl₂ in a range from about 1 mM toabout 2 mM, and the surfactant is either Polysorbate-80 at aconcentration from about 0.001% to about 0.1% or Polysorbate-40 at aconcentration from about 0.001% to 0.1%.

In a still further embodiment of the present invention the formulationis buffered with about 5.0 mM Tris, at pH 8.0; sucrose is present in aweight to volume of about 5%; NaCl is present at about 75 mM, with thetotal osmolarity at about 300 mOs/L; MgCl₂ in at about 1 mM to 2 mM, andeither Polysorbate-80 is present at a concentration of about 0.02% orPolysorbate-40 at a concentration of about 0.005%.

An exemplified portion of the present invention the formulation isbuffered with about 5.0 mM Tris, at pH 8.0; sucrose is present in aweight to volume of 5% (146 mM); NaCl is present at 75 mM, with thetotal osmolarity approximately 310 mOs/L; MgCl₂ at 1 mM, andPolysorbate-80 is present at a concentration of 0.005%. This formulationis herein designated A105.

Another exemplification shows an effective PS-80 range to at least 0.1%,as opposed to A105, where PS-80 is found at 0.005%. This formulation isbuffered with about 5.0 mM Tris, at pH 8.0; sucrose is present in aweight to volume of 5% (146 mM); NaCl is present at 75 mM, MgCl₂ is at 1mM, and Polysorbate-80 is present at a concentration of 0.1%. Thisformulation is herein designated A111.

Another embodiment of the present invention is exemplified by aformulation buffered with about 5.0 mM Tris, at pH 8.0; sucrose ispresent in a weight to volume of 5% (146 mM); NaCl is present at 75 mM,MgCl₂ at 1 mM, and Polysorbate-40 is present at a concentration of0.005%. This formulation is herein designated A128, as shown in Example1.

Yet another exemplification is a formulation identical to A128, exceptthat Polysorbate-40 is present at a concentration of 0.1%, showing aneffective range of Polysorbate-40. This formulation is herein designatedA129, as shown in Example 1.

The present invention further relates recombinant adenovirusformulations which omit at least one component of the above-disclosedcomponent, including but not limited to formulation A108 (no divalentcation) or formulation A109 (no surfactant).

An essential quality of the present invention is the finding thatnon-reducing free radical scavengers and/or chelators are important formaximizing both short and long term stability of viral formulations,especially recombinant adenoviral formulations disclosed herein. To thisend, and as noted above, a critical preferred embodiment of the presentinvention is a viral formulation which contains one or more componentswhich act as an inhibitor of free radical oxidation. It is shown hereinthat addition of these components enhance long term stability attemperatures up through the 2-8° C. range, or higher, when compared tocore formulations which do not contains these inhibitors. In addition,these formulations are compatible with parenteral administration. Theincreased stability of these formulations shows that oxidation is amajor pathway of adenovirus inactivation which results in a loss ofinfectivity during storage.

The present invention relates to a recombinant adenoviral formulationbuffered with Tris to a range from about pH 7.5 to about pH 8.5; sucroseis added within a range upwards of a weight to volume percentage of 10,depending upon the salt concentration; the salt being NaCl which isadded at concentration within a range of upwards of 250 mM NaCl,complementing the sucrose concentration such that total osmolarityranges from about 200 mOs/L to about 800 mOs/L; the divalent cation isMgCl₂ in a range from about 0.1 mM to about 10 mM, and the surfactant iseither Polysorbate-80 at a concentration from about 0.001% to about 2%or Polysorbate-40 at a concentration from about 0.001% to about 1%,wherein the formulation further comprises one or more componentsdescribed herein which inhibit free radical oxidation, including but notlimited to ethanol (EtOH), EDTA, an EDTA/ethanol combination,triethanolamine (TEOA), mannitol, histidine, glycerol, sodium citrate,inositol hexaphosphate, tripolyphosphate, succinic and malic acid,desferal, ethylenediamine-Di(o-hydoxy-phenylacetic acid (EDDHA) anddiethylenetriaminepenta-acetic acid (DTPA).

In a further embodiment of the present invention the formulation isbuffered with about 1 mM to about 10 mM Tris to a range from about pH7.5 to about pH 8.5; sucrose is present in a weight to volume range ofabout 2% to about 8% and NaCl is present from a range of about 25 mM toabout 250 mM, the sucrose and NaCl concentrations being complementarysuch that the total osmolarity ranges from about 200 mOs/L to about 800mOs/L; the divalent cation is MgCl₂ in a range from about 0.1 mM toabout 5 mM, and the surfactant is either Polysorbate-80 at aconcentration from about 0.001% to about 0.25% or Polysorbate-40 at aconcentration from about 0.001% to 0.5%, wherein the formulation furthercomprises one or more components described herein which inhibit freeradical oxidation, including but not limited to ethanol (EtOH), EDTA, anEDTA/ethanol combination, triethanolamine (TEOA), mannitol, histidine,glycerol, sodium citrate, inositol hexaphosphate, tripolyphosphate,succinic and malic acid, desferal,ethylenediamine-Di(o-hydoxy-phenylacetic acid (EDDHA) anddiethylenetriaminepenta-acetic acid (DTPA).

In a specific embodiment of the present invention the formulation isbuffered with about 2.5 mM to about 7.5 mM Tris to a pH of about 8.0;sucrose is present in a weight to volume range of about 2% to about 8%and NaCl is present from a range of about 25 mM to about 250 mM, thesucrose and NaCl contributing to a total osmolarity range from about 250mOs/L to about 450 mOs/L; the divalent cation is MgCl₂ in a range fromabout 0.5 mM to about 2.5 mM, and the surfactant is eitherPolysorbate-80 at a concentration from about 0.001% to about 0.1% orPolysorbate-40 at a concentration from about 0.001% to 0.05%, whereinthe formulation further comprises one or more components describedherein which inhibit free radical oxidation, including but not limitedto ethanol (EtOH), EDTA, an EDTA/ethanol combination, triethanolamine(TEOA), mannitol, histidine, glycerol, sodium citrate, inositolhexaphosphate, tripolyphosphate, succinic and malic acid, desferal,ethylenediamine-Di(o-hydoxy-phenylacetic acid (EDDHA) anddiethylenetriaminepenta-acetic acid (DTPA).

In another embodiment of the present invention the formulation isbuffered with about 5.0 mM Tris to a pH of about 8.0; sucrose is presentin a weight to volume range of about 4% to about 6% and NaCl is presentfrom a range of about 50 mM to about 100 mM, the sucrose and NaClcontributing to a total osmolarity range from about 250 mOs/L to about450 mOs/L; the divalent cation is MgCl₂ in a range from about 1 mM toabout 2 mM, and the surfactant is either Polysorbate-80 at aconcentration from about 0.001% to about 0.1% or Polysorbate-40 at aconcentration from about 0.001% to 0.01%, wherein the formulationfurther comprises one or more components described herein which inhibitfree radical oxidation, including but not limited to ethanol (EtOH),EDTA, an EDTA/ethanol combination, triethanolamine (TEOA), mannitol,histidine, glycerol, sodium citrate, inositol hexaphosphate,tripolyphosphate, succinic and malic acid, desferal,ethylenediamine-Di(o-hydoxy-phenylacetic acid (EDDHA) anddiethylenetriaminepenta-acetic acid (DTPA).

In a still further embodiment of the present invention the formulationis buffered with about 5.0 mM Tris, at pH 8.0; sucrose is present in aweight to volume of about 5%; NaCl is present at about 75 mM, with thetotal osmolarity at about 300 mOs/L; MgCl₂ in at about 1 mM, and eitherPolysorbate-80 is present at a concentration of about 0.02% orPolysorbate-40 at a concentration of about 0.005%, wherein theformulation further comprises one or more components described hereinwhich inhibit free radical oxidation, including but not limited toethanol (EtOH), EDTA, an EDTA/ethanol combination, triethanolamine(TEOA), mannitol, histidine, glycerol, sodium citrate, inositolhexaphosphate, tripolyphosphate, succinic and malic acid, desferal,ethylenediamine-Di(o-hydoxy-phenylacetic acid (EDDHA) anddiethylenetriaminepenta-acetic acid (DTPA).

In the above-described formulations, at least one non-reducing freeradical scavenger may be added to concentrations which effectivelyenhance stability of the core formulation. Especially useful rangesinclude (i) EDTA from about 1 μM to about 500 μM, preferably in a rangefrom about 50 μM to about 250 μM, and an especially preferredconcentration of at or around 100 μM; (ii) ethanol from about 0.1% toabout 5.0%, preferably in a range from about 0.25% to about 2.0%, and anespecially preferred amount totaling at or around 0.5%; (iii) DTPA fromabout 1 μM to about 500 μM, preferably in a range from about 50 μM toabout 250 μM, and an especially preferred concentration at or around 100μM; (iv) CaCl₂ from about 0.1 mM to about 10 mM, preferably in a rangefrom about 0.5 mM to about 5 mM, and an especially preferredconcentration at or around 1 mM; and, (v) sodium citrate from about 1 mMto about 100 mM, preferably in a range from about 5 mM to about 25 mM,and an especially preferred concentration at or around 10 mM. Theseinhibitors of free radical oxidation may also be added in variouscombinations, including but not limited to two scavengers (e.g., 113), asole (e.g., A114), or possible a sole scavenger in the absence ofanother component, such as a divalent cation (e.g., A116).

In another embodiment of the formulation is buffered with about 5.0 mMTris, at pH 8.0; sucrose is present in a weight to volume of 5% (146mM); NaCl is present at 75 mM, with the total osmolarity approximately400 mOs/L; MgCl₂ at 1 mM, and Polysorbate-80 is present at aconcentration of 0.005%, EDTA is present at 100 μM and ethanol at 0.5%.This formulation is designated A113, as shown in Example 1.

In an additional embodiment the formulation is buffered with about 5.0mM Tris, at pH 8.0; sucrose is present in a weight to volume of 5% (146mM); NaCl is present at 75 mM, with the total osmolarity approximately310 mOs/L; MgCl₂ at 1 mM, and Polysorbate-80 is present at aconcentration of 0.005%, and triethanolamine (TEOA) is present at 1 mM.This formulation is herein designated A114, as shown in Example 1.

In another embodiment the formulation is buffered with about 5.0 mMTris, at pH 8.0; sucrose is present in a weight to volume of 5% (146mM); NaCl is present at 75 mM, with the total osmolarity approximately350 mOs/L; MgCl₂ at 1 mM, and Polysorbate-80 is present at aconcentration of 0.005%, and sodium citrate at 10 mM. This formulationis herein designated A115, also as shown in Example 1.

In still another embodiment the formulation is buffered with about 5.0mM Tris, at pH 8.0; sucrose is present in a weight to volume of 5% (146mM); NaCl is present at 75 mM, Polysorbate-80 is present at aconcentration of 0.005%, and DTPA at 100 μM. This formulation is hereindesignated A116, also as shown in Example 1.

In another embodiment of the present invention the formulation isbuffered with about 5.0 mM Tris-HCl, at pH 8.0; sucrose is present in aweight to volume range of 5% (146 mM); NaCl is present at 75 mM, MgCl₂at 1 mM, and Polysorbate-80 is present at a concentration of 0.005%, andmannitol is present at 3% (w/v). This formulation is herein designatedA121.

In yet another embodiment the formulation is buffered with about 5.0 mMTris, at pH 8.0; sucrose is present in a weight to volume of 5% (146mM); NaCl is present at 75 mM, MgCl₂ at 1 mM, Polysorbate-80 is presentat a concentration of 0.005%, and ethanol is present at a concentrationof 0.5% (A132) and 1.0% (A134). These two formulations are disclosed inExample 1.

Another embodiment shows a formulation buffered with about 5.0 mM Tris,at pH 8.0; sucrose is present in a weight to volume of 5% (146 mM); NaClis present at 75 mM, with the total osmolarity approximately 310 mOs/L;MgCl₂ at 1 mM, Polysorbate-80 is present at a concentration of 0.005%,and EDTA at 100 μM. This formulation is herein designated A133, also asshown in Example 1.

Another preferred embodiment shows a formulation buffered with about 5.0mM Tris, at pH 8.0; sucrose is present in a weight to volume of 5% (146mM); NaCl is present at 75 mM, with the total osmolarity approximately500 mOs/L; MgCl₂ at 1 mM, Polysorbate-80 is present at a concentrationof 0.005%, EDTA at 100 μM and ethanol 1.0%. This formulation is hereindesignated A135, also as shown in Example 1.

In another embodiment of the present invention the formulation isbuffered with about 5.0 mM Tris, at pH 8.0; sucrose is present in aweight to volume of 5% (146 mM); NaCl is present at 75 mM, with thetotal osmolarity approximately 400 mOs/L; MgCl₂ at 1 mM, Polysorbate-80is present at a concentration of 0.1%, EDTA at 100 μM and ethanol 0.5%.This formulation is herein designated A136, also shown in Example 1.

As noted above, it is also within the scope of the present invention tosubstitute a preferred divalent cation such as MgCl₂ with a differencedivalent cation, CaCl₂. Such a substitution may relate to any of theformulations disclosed herein. An example of such a substitution isformulation A120, which comprises 5.0 mM Tris-HCl, at pH 8.0; sucrose ispresent in a weight to volume of 5% (146 mM); NaCl is present at 75 mM,Polysorbate-80 at 0.005%, EDTA at 100 μM, ethanol at 0.5% and CaCl₂ at 1mM. Formulation A120 is shown in Example 1.

The present invention further relates recombinant adenovirusformulations which omit at least one component of the above-disclosedcomponents, including but not limited to formulation A116 (excipient:DTPA at 100 μM; no divalent cation), formulation A117 (excipients: EDTAat 100 μM and EtOH at 0.5%; no divalent cation), formulation A118(triethanolamine at 1.0 mM; no divalent cation), formulation A119(excipient: sodium citrate at 10 mM; no divalent cation).

In addition to the above-disclosed excipients which act as inhibitor offree radical oxidation, the present invention further relates to arecombinant viral formulation which additionally comprises plasmid DNAat a concentration from about 0.01 mg/ml to about 10 mg/ml. The additionof plasmid DNA effectively increases the stability of a recombinantvirus formulation, such as the recombinant adenovirus exemplifiedherein. Therefore, plasmid DNA may be added to any core formulations(e.g., A105 and A128, which do not contain additional excipients such asfree radical oxidation inhibitors), as well as core formulationscomprising such excipients. A preferred concentration range for theplasmid DNA is from about 0.5 mg/l to about 5.0 mg/ml, with anadditionally preferred plasmid DNA concentration at 1 mg/ml.

In another embodiment of the present invention the formulation isbuffered with about 5.0 mM Tris-HCl, at pH 8.0; sucrose is present in aweight to volume range of 5% (146 mM); NaCl is present at 75 mM, MgCl₂at 1 mM, and Polysorbate-80 is present at a concentration of 0.005%, andplasmid DNA is present at 0.1 mg/ml. This formulation is hereindesignated A137.

In still another embodiment of the present invention the formulation isbuffered with about 5.0 mM Tris, at pH 8.0; sucrose is present in aweight to volume of 5% (146 mM); NaCl is present at 75 mM, with thetotal osmolarity approximately 400 mOs/L; MgCl₂ at 1 mM, andPolysorbate-80 is present at a concentration of 0.005%, EDTA is presentat 100 μM, ethanol is present at 0.5% and plasmid DNA is present at 1mg/mL. This formulation is designated A138, as shown in Example 1.

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention the formulationis buffered with about 5.0 mM Tris, at pH 8.0; mannitol is present in aweight to volume of 2.7% (147 mM); NaCl is present at 75 mM, with thetotal osmolarity approximately 400 mOs/L; MgCl₂ at 1 mM, andPolysorbate-80 is present at a concentration of 0.005%, EDTA is presentat 100 μM and ethanol at 0.5%. This formulation is designated A149, asshown in Example 1.

Another embodiment shows a formulation buffered with about 5.0 mM Tris,at pH 8.0; sucrose is present in a weight to volume of 5% (146 mM); NaClis present at 75 mM, with the total osmolarity approximately 400 mOs/L;MgCl₂ at 1 mM, and Polysorbate-80 is present at a concentration of0.005%, EDTA is present at 100 μM, ethanol is present at 0.5% andhistidine is present at 5 mM. This formulation is designated A151a, asshown in Example 1.

Another embodiment of the present invention disclosed a formulationbuffered with about 5.0 mM Tris, at pH 7.5 at 30° C.; while sucrose ispresent in a weight to volume of 5% (146 mM); NaCl is present at 75 mM,with the total osmolarity approximately 400 mOs/L; MgCl₂ at 1 mM, andPolysorbate-80 is present at a concentration of 0.005%, EDTA is presentat 100 μM, ethanol is present at 0.5% and histidine is present at 5 mM.This formulation is designated A151b, as shown in Example 1.

In another embodiment of the present invention the formulation isbuffered with about 5.0 mM Tris, at pH 7.5 at 30° C.; sucrose is presentin a weight to volume of 5% (146 mM); NaCl is present at 75 mM, with thetotal osmolarity approximately 400 mOs/L; MgCl₂ at 2 mM, andPolysorbate-80 is present at a concentration of 0.005%, EDTA is presentat 100 μM, ethanol is present at 0.5%, histidine is present at 5 mM andtriethanolamine is present at 5 mM. This formulation is designated A152,as shown in Example 1.

In still another embodiment of the present invention the formulation isbuffered with about 5.0 mM Tris, at pH 7.5 at 30° C.; sucrose is presentin a weight to volume of 5% (146 mM); NaCl is present at 75 mM, with thetotal osmolarity approximately 400 mOs/L; MgCl₂ at 2 mM, andPolysorbate-80 is present at a concentration of 0.005%, EDTA is presentat 100 μM, ethanol is present at 0.5%, histidine is present at 5 mM,triethanolamine is present at 5 mM and glycerol is present at 5% (v/v).This formulation is designated A153, as shown in Example 1.

As noted above, the dosage regimen utilizing the compounds of thepresent invention is selected in accordance with a variety of factorsincluding type, level of pre-existing immunity to adenovirus, species,age, weight, sex and medical condition of the patient; the severity ofthe condition to be treated; the route of administration; the renal,hepatic and cardiovascular function of the patient; and the particularcompound thereof employed. A physician or veterinarian of ordinary skillcan readily determine and prescribe the effective amount of the drugrequired to prevent, counter or arrest the progress of the condition.Optimal precision in achieving concentrations of drug within the rangethat yields efficacy without toxicity requires a regimen based on thekinetics of the drug's availability to target sites. This involves aconsideration of the distribution, equilibrium, and elimination of adrug.

The formulated recombinant viruses described herein may also beformulated with an adjuvant or adjuvants which may increaseimmunogenicity of the expressed transgene. A number of these adjuvantsare known in the art and are available for use, including but notlimited to saponin, monophosphoryl lipid A, non-ionic block copolymerscomposed of polyoxyethylene and polyoxypropylene or other compoundswhich increase immunogenicity of expressed transgene. Another adjuvantfor use with the recombinant viruses described herein are one or moreforms of an aluminum phosphate-based adjuvant wherein the aluminumphosphate-based adjuvant possesses a molar PO₄/Al ratio of approximately0.9. An additional mineral-based adjuvant may be generated from one ormore forms of a calcium phosphate. These mineral-based compounds for useas DNA vaccines adjuvants are disclosed in PCT International ApplicationNo. PCT/US98/02414 (WO 98/35562), which is hereby incorporated byreference.

The recombinant virus formulations described herein are administered tothe vertebrate host (preferably a mammalian host and especially a humanrecipient) by any means known in the art, such as enteral and parenteralroutes. These routes of delivery include but are not limited tointramusclar injection, intraperitoneal injection, intravenousinjection, inhalation or intranasal delivery, oral delivery, sublingualadministration, subcutaneous administration, transdermal administration,transcutaneous administration, percutaneous administration or any formof particle bombardment, such as a biolostic device such as a “gene gun”or by any available needle-free injection device. The preferred methodsof delivery of the recombinant viruses described herein areintramuscular injection and needle-free injection. An especiallypreferred method is intramuscular delivery.

In accordance with the formulation compositions disclosed herein, thepresent invention also relates to methods of stabilizing virusformulation which comprises generating virus-containing formulationsdisclosed herein, such formulations which result in improved viralstability when stored in about the 2-8° C. range and higher while alsobeing compatible with parenteral administration, especially patenteraladministration to humans. Therefore, these prescribed methods relate tothe disclosed, and especially, the exemplified virus-containingformulations of the present invention. In addition, the presentinvention relates to a method of stabilizing a virus formulation whichcomprises adding at least one inhibitor of free radical oxidation to theformulation, such that the resultant formulation shows improvedstability in about the 2-8° C. range and higher while also beingcompatible with parenteral administration. Also, the present inventionrelates to a method of stabilizing a virus formulation which comprisesadding a nucleic acid to the formulation, such that the resultantformulation also shows improved stability in about the 2-8° C. range andhigher while also being compatible with parenteral administration.Therefore, the present invention relates to a method of stabilizing avirus formulation which comprises preserving the virus of interest,preferably a recombinant virus, in any of the formulations describedherein, and especially methods which comprise preservation of the virusby addition of at least one one inhibitor of free radical oxidationand/or addition a nucleic acid to the formulation, such that theresultant formulation also shows improved stability in about the 2-8° C.range and higher while also being compatible with parenteraladministration.

The following examples are provided to illustrate the present inventionwithout, however, limiting the same hereto.

Materials—Adenovirus type 5 containing the FL HIV-gag transgene (Ad5gag)was used for these experiments. This Ad5FLHIVgag recombinant virus isdescribed in detail in U.S. Provisional Application 60/148,981, filedAug. 13, 1999, which is hereby incorporated by reference. Therecombinant Ad5gag virus was purified by column chromatography.Methods:

1. TCIDSO Adenovirus Infectivity Assay: The TCID₅₀ assay is a method fortitrating the infectivity of adenovirus, using a TCID₅₀ end-pointdilution method in a 96-well format. Cells in each well of the 96-wellplate that are infected with adenovirus are revealed using a vitalstaining method based on the Tetrazolium dye (MTS). The amount of colorformation per well is correlated with the quantity of living cells,which reflects the extent of adenovirus replication.

2. QPA Adenovirus Infectivity Assay—The QPA assay is a procedure for therapid quantitation of adenovirus infectivity based on the use of Q-PCRtechnology to quantitate accumulated adenoviral genomes 24 hours afterinfection of cells.

The following examples are provided to illustrate the present inventionwithout, however, limiting the same hereto.

EXAMPLE 1 Exemplified Formulation Number and Components

Formulation numbers represent exemplified formulations which, along withaccompanying stability data, support the claims appended hereto.

Form. # Description A101 10 mM Tris, 10% glycerol (v/v), 1 mM MgCl₂, pH7.5 A102 6 mM phosphate, 150 mM NaCl, 10% glycerol (v/v), pH 7.2 A103 6mM phosphate, 150 mM NaCl, pH 7.2 A104 5 mM Tris, 150 mM NaCl, 1 mMMgCl₂, 0.005% PS-80, pH 8.0 A105 5 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5% sucrose(w/v), 1 mM MgCl₂, 0.005% PS-80, pH 8.0 A106 5 mM Tris, 14% sucrose(w/v), 1 mM MgCl₂, 0.005% PS-80, pH 8.0 A107 5 mM Tris, 8% sorbitol(w/v), 1 mM MgCl₂, 0.005% PS-80, pH 8.0 A108 5 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5%sucrose (w/v), 0.005% PS-80, pH 8.0 A109 5 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5%sucrose (w/v), 1 mM MgCl₂, pH 8.0 A110 5 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5% sucrose(w/v), 1 mM MgCl₂, 0.02% PS-80, pH 8.0 A111 5 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5%sucrose (w/v), 1 mM MgCl₂, 0.1% PS-80, pH 8.0 A112 5 mM Tris, 75 mMNaCl, 5% sucrose (w/v), 1 mM MgCl₂, 0.005% PS-80, 100 μm DTPA, pH 8.0.A113 5 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5% sucrose (w/v), 1 mM MgCl₂, 0.005% PS-80,100 μM EDTA, 0.5% EtOH, pH 8.0 A114 5 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5% sucrose(w/v), 1 mM MgCl₂, 0.005% PS-80, 1.0 mM TEOA, pH 8.0 A115 5 mM Tris, 75mM NaCl, 5% sucrose (w/v), 1 mM MgCl₂, 0.005% PS-80, 10 mM sodiumcitrate, pH 8.0 A116 5 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5% sucrose (w/v), 0.005%PS-80, 100 μM DTPA, pH 8.0 A117 5 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5% sucrose (w/v),0.005% PS-80, 100 μM EDTA, 0.5% EtOH, pH 8.0 A118 5 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl,5% sucrose (w/v), 0.005% PS-80, 1.0 mM TEOA, pH 8.0 A119 5 mM Tris, 75mM NaCl, 5% sucrose (w/v), 0.005% PS-80, 10 mM sodium citrate, pH 8.0A120 5 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5% sucrose (w/v), 0.005% PS-80, 100 μM EDTA,0.5% EtOH, 1 mM CaCl₂, pH 8.0 A121 5 mM Tris, 5% sucrose (w/v), 1 mMMgCl₂, 3% (w/v) mannitol, 0.005% PS-80, pH 8.0 A125 5 mM Tris, 75 mMNaCl, 5% sucrose (w/v), 1 mM MgCl₂,, 10 mM ascorbic acid, 0.005% PS-80,pH 8.0 A126 5 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5% sucrose (w/v), 1 mM MgCl₂, 0.05%PS-80, pH 8.0 A127 5 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5% sucrose (w/v), 1 mM MgCl₂,0.15% PS-80, pH 8.0 A128 5 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5% sucrose (w/v), 1 mMMgCl₂, 0.005% PS-40, pH 8.0 A129 5 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5% sucrose(w/v), 1 mM MgCl₂, 0.1% PS-40, pH 8.0 A130 5 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5%sucrose (w/v), 2 mM MgCl₂, 0.005% PS-80, pH 8.0 A131 5 mM Tris, 75 mMNaCl, 5% sucrose (w/v), 5 mM MgCl₂, 0.005% PS-80, pH 8.0 A132 5 mM Tris,75 mM NaCl, 5% sucrose (w/v), 1 mM MgCl₂, 0.005% PS-80, 0.5% EtOH, pH8.0 A133 5 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5% sucrose (w/v), 1 mM MgCl₂, 0.005%PS-80, 100 μM EDTA, pH 8.0 A134 5 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5% sucrose (w/v),1 mM MgCl₂, 0.005% PS-80, 1.0% EtOH, pH 8.0 A135 5 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl,5% sucrose (w/v), 1 mM MgCl₂, 0.005% PS-80, 100 μM EDTA, 1.0% EtOH, pH8.0 A136 5 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5% sucrose (w/v), 1 mM MgCl₂, 0.1%PS-80, 100 μM EDTA, 0.5% EtOH, pH 8.0 A137 5 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5%sucrose (w/v), 1 mM MgCl₂, 0.005% PS-80, 1 mg/ml plasmid DNA comprisingan HIV-1 gag sequence, pH 8.0 A138 A138 5 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5%sucrose (w/v), 1 mM MgCl₂, 0.005% PS-80, 100 μM EDTA, 0.5% EtOH, 1 mg/mlplasmid DNA comprising an HIV-1 gag sequence, pH 8.0 A149 5 mM Tris, 75mM NaCl, 2.7% (w/v) mannitol, 1 mM MgCl₂, 0.005% PS-80, 100 μM EDTA,0.5% EtOH, pH 8.0 A151a 5 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5% sucrose (w/v), 1 mMMgCl₂, 0.005% PS-80, 100 μM EDTA, 0.5% EtOH, 5 mM histidine, pH 8.0A151b 5 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5% sucrose (w/v), 1 mM MgCl₂, 0.005% PS-80,100 μM EDTA, 0.5% EtOH, 5 mM histidine, pH 7.5 at 30° C. A152 5 mM Tris,75 mM NaCl, 5% sucrose (w/v), 2 mM MgCl₂, 0.1% PS-80, 100 μM EDTA, 0.5%EtOH, 5 mM histidine, 5 mM TEOA, pH 7.5 at 30° C. A153 5 mM Tris, 75 mMNaCl, 5% sucrose (w/v), 2 mM MgCl₂, 0.1% PS-80, 100 μM EDTA, 0.5% EtOH,5 mM histidine, 5 mM TEOA, 5% (v/v) glycerol, pH 7.5 at 30° C. A155 15mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5% sucrose (w/v), 1 mM MgCl₂, 0.005% PS-80, 100 μMEDTA, 0.5% EtOH, pH 8.0 A159 5 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 2.7% mannitol (w/v),1 mM MgCl₂, 0.005% PS-80, 100 μM EDTA, 0.5% EtOH, 5 mM histidine, pH 8.0A160 5 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 2.7% mannitol (w/v), 1 mM MgCl₂, 0.005%PS-80, 100 μM EDTA, 5 mM histidine, pH 8.0 A165 5 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl,5% sucrose (w/v), 2 mM MgCl₂, 0.1% PS-80, 100 μM EDTA, 0.5% EtOH, 5 mMhistidine, pH 7.5 at 30° C. A166 10 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5% sucrose(w/v), 1 mM MgCl₂, 0.1% PS-80, 100 μM EDTA, 0.5% EtOH, 7.5 mM histidine,1 mM TEOA, pH 7.6 A167 10 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5% sucrose (w/v), 1 mMMgCl₂, 0.1% PS-80, 100 μM EDTA, 0.5% EtOH, 10 mM histidine, 1 mM TEOA,pH 8.0 A168 10 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5% sucrose (w/v), 1 mM MgCl₂, 0.1%PS-80, 100 μM EDTA, 0.5% EtOH, 7.5 mM histidine, 1 mM TEOA, 1.0%mannitol, pH 7.7 A169 10 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5% sucrose (w/v), 1 mMMgCl₂, 0.1% PS-80, 100 μM EDTA, 0.5% EtOH, 10 mM histidine, 1 mM TEOA,1% mannitol, pH 8.0 A170 10 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5% sucrose (w/v), 1 mMMgCl₂, 0.1% PS-80, 100 μM EDTA, 0.5% EtOH, 10 mM histidine, pH 8.0 A17110 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5% sucrose (w/v), 0.1% PS-80, 100 μM EDTA, 0.5%EtOH, 10 mM histidine, 1 mM TEOA, 1% mannitol, pH 8.0 A172 10 mM Tris,75 mM NaCl, 5% sucrose (w/v), 0.005% PS-80, 100 μM EDTA, 0.5% EtOH, pH8.0 A173 10 mM Tris, 75 mM NaCl, 5% sucrose (w/v), 0.005% PS-80, 100 μMEDTA, 0.5% EtOH, 10 mM histidine, pH 8.0

EXAMPLE 2 Effect of Freeze/Thaw on the Recovery and Stability of HumanAdenovirus 5

The effect of freeze/thaw on the recovery/stability of Ad5gag wasexamined initially in formulations A101-A107 at both 10⁷ and 10⁹ vp/mL.FIG. 1 shows the effects of one freeze/thaw cycle (from −70° C. to 5°C.) on the recovery/stability of Ad5gag in the initial sevenformulations, as measured by the QPA assay. The results indicate thatAd5gag lost significant amounts of infectivity, or was adsorbed to theglass vial, in the two formulations that did not contain acryoprotectant (A103 and A104). The results also indicated that theinfectivity was at the level expected for the Ad5gag concentration inA101, A102, A105-A107, suggesting that there was no significant loss ofrecovery from the glass vial. The effects of multiple freeze/thaw cycleswere also examined. The data in FIG. 2 show the effects of 1 to 3freeze/thaw cycles on the recovery/stability of Ad5gag in the initialformulations. The results indicated severe losses in infectivity, oradsorption to the glass vial, for Ad5gag in A103 and A104 and suggestedsome loss of infectivity for A106 and A107 after 2-3 freeze/thaw cycles.

To confirm the loss of infectivity in A103 and A104 after freeze/thawand to determine the efficiency of recovering Ad5gag from the finalcontainers, the TCID₅₀ assay was performed on Ad5gag in the initialformulations after one freeze/thaw cycle. The results, shown in FIG. 3,indicate large losses in infectivity/recovery for Ad5gag in A103 andA104, but with no significant infectivity losses observed for Ad5gag inthe other formulations. The results also indicated no significant lossof recoverable Ad5gag from the glass containers or the otherformulations, since the ratio of VP/IU was in the expected range of ˜20,based on TCID₅₀ assays of the same lot of Ad5gag that was not stored inglass vials.

Additional freeze/thaw studies were done with Ad5gag in A105 since theresults of the early freeze/thaw and stability data suggested thatAd5gag was more stable in A105 than the other initial formulations. Thedata in FIG. 4 show the effect of 12 freeze/thaw cycles on the stabilityof Ad5gag in A105 at 10⁸, 10¹⁰ and 10¹¹ vp/mL. The results indicate thatAd5gag in A105 was stable through 12 freeze/thaw cycles and after 4freeze/thaw cycles followed by 8.5 hours at 2-8° C.

A freeze/thaw study was also performed to determine the effect offreezing and thawing a large aliquot of Ad5gag in A105, to simulate thehandling of clinical bulks prior to filling. For this experiment 600 mLof Ad5gag in A105 at 10⁸ vp/mL was frozen at −70° C. The sample was thenthawed at 2-8° C. and assayed for infectivity by QPA. Following 51.5hours of thawing at 2-8° C. the aliquot was incubated further at 15° C.for 20 hours, to simulate handling of clinical materials during afilling operation, then assayed again. The results shown in FIG. 5indicate that the freezing, thawing and 15° C. incubation did not have asignificant affect on the infectivity of Ad5gag in A105.

EXAMPLE 3 Evaluation of Human Adenovirus Formulations Based onShort-Term Stability

One of the initial stability studies was designed to test the short-termstability of Ad5gag in the candidate formulations at 2-8° C. Since oneof the stability criteria for implementation into a GMP clinicalsupplies operation was to ensure stability through a filling operation,a short-term study was initiated using Ad5gag at both 10⁷ and 10⁹ vp/mLin 3 mL glass vials, and assaying for infectivity by QPA after 72 hoursof storage at 2-8° C. The results in FIG. 6 indicate that Ad5gag informulation A102 was significantly less stable than in the otherformulations tested. These QPA results were obtained by measuring thelog loss in infectivity compared to the −70° C. control.

The stability of Ad5gag in A102, A105, A106 and A107 was also determinedat both 10⁷ and 10⁹ vp/mL by QPA after 6 months of storage at −15° C.The results indicated <0.1 log loss of infectivity in formulations A105,A106 and A107 but 0.27 log loss for Ad5gag in A102, at eachconcentration, compared to a −70° C. control. TCID₅₀ assays conductedafter 6 months of storage at −15° C. (10⁹ vp/mL) indicated that Ad5gagin formulation A102 lost 0.6 logs of infectivity, while there was <0.1log loss in formulations A105, A106 and A107. Additional short-termstability studies were conducted at 2-8, 15, 25 and 37° C. to comparethe stability of Ad5gag in A105, A106 and A107 (compared to a −70° C.control). These studies were done with Ad5gag at 10⁷ vp/mL withtimepoints at 1, 2 3 and 4 weeks at 2-8, 15 and 25° C. The stability at37° C. was determined at 3, 7, 10 and 14 days. The 2-8° C. data shown inFIG. 7 suggested that Ad5gag in A105 is more stable than in either A106or A107.

The 15, 25 and 37° C. stability data are shown in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10,respectively. These results clearly indicate that Ad5gag in A105 issignificantly more stable than in A106 or A107.

EXAMPLE 4 Effect of pH on the Stability of Human Adenovirus 5

The effect of pH on the stability of Ad5gag has been examined in anumber of experiments. One experiment was designed to determine theactivation energy for Ad5gag inactivation at two different pH values.For this experiment Ad5gag was formulated in a buffer containing 75 mMNaCl, 5% sucrose, 1 mM MgCl₂, 0.005% PS-80 and either 20 mM Tris or 20mM Bis-tris-propane as the buffer. The Tris buffered solutions wereadjusted to pH 8.6 at each temperature (37, 30, 25 and 15° C.) while theBis-tris-propane buffered formulations were adjusted to pH 7.4. Theresults, shown in FIG. 11 suggest that there are different inactivationmechanisms predominating at pH 7.4 and pH 8.6. Moreover, the resultspreliminarily suggest that the major inactivation pathway is differentabove and below 15° C. and that the optimum pH for Ad5gag stability isdifferent above and below 15° C. Based on these data the activationenergies for the pH 8.6 and pH 7.4 inactivation pathways are 34 and 19kcal/mol, respectively.

The data in FIG. 11 suggest that below 15° C. the pH 7.4 pathway is themajor inactivation pathway. Therefore, it seems possible that below 15°C. even a formulation at pH 8.6 would be inactivated at a rateconsistent with the pH 7.4 pathway. Data from another experiment hasbeen included in FIG. 11 to show the rate of inactivation of Ad5gag inA105 at both 15 and 5° C. The results suggest that the rate of Ad5gaginactivation in A105 (which is pH 8.6 at 5° C.) is consistent with thepH 7.4 pathway predominating below 15° C. These data suggest that todevelop Ad5gag formulations more stable than A105 at 2-8° C. it will benecessary to reduce the rate of the pH 7.4 inactivation pathway.

In another experiment the effect of pH on the stability of Ad5gag wasexamined after 3 months of storage at 2-8, 15 and 25° C. The results,shown in FIG. 12, are consistent with the Arrhenius data in FIG. 11indicating that the pH for optimum stability is different above andbelow 15° C. At 2-8° C. the optimum pH appears to be in the range of 8.0to 9.0, with a maximum at pH 8.5. At 25° C. the pH for optimum stabilityis in the range of 7.0 to 7.5. Also noted in this experiment was anextreme loss of infectivity for the pH 7.0 formulation at 2-8° C.Because the −70° C. control for the 2-8° C. samples also lost ˜2 logs ofinfectivity it was clear that the 2-8° C. storage was not totallyresponsible for the lost infectivity. Moreover, the −70° C. control forthe pH 7.0 formulations to be stored at 15° C. also lost infectivity(˜0.3 logs). It seem likely that the loss of infectivity was due to thebrief exposure to a pH lower than 7.0 during the time the pH 7.0formulations were near 25° C. Since these formulations contain Tristhere is a relatively large pH change with temperature. Therefore, thepH 7.0 formulations prepared for storage at 2-8° C. and 15° C. wereadjusted to pH 6.5 and 6.75 at 25° C., respectively. These data suggestthat Ad5gag is very unstable below pH 7.0.

The effect of pH on the long-term stability of Ad5gag was also examinedafter 12 months of storage at 15° C. and 25° C. The results, shown inFIG. 13, are consistent with the data shown in FIG. 12 and indicate thatthe pH of optimum stability for Ad5gag is ˜pH 7.5 at 15° C. and is ˜pH7.0 to 7.5 at 25° C.

The effect of pH on the long-term stability of Ad5gag at 2-8° C. isshown in FIG. 14. Based on 12 months of stability data the optimum pHfor Ad5gag stability was found to be between 8.0 and 8.5, at 2-8° C.

EXAMPLE 5 Effect of MgCl₂ on the Stability of Human Adenovirus 5

The effect of MgCl₂ on the stability of Ad5gag has been examined in twoexperiments. In the first experiment the stability of Ad5gag wascompared in A105 and A108 to determine whether MgCl₂ was necessary forAd5gag stability. The results, shown in FIG. 15, clearly indicate thatMgCl₂ is necessary for optimum Ad5gag stability in A105.

In the second experiment the effect of 1, 2 and 5 mM MgCl₂ on thestability of Ad5gag was compared at 30° C. The results shown in FIG. 16suggest that the optimum MgCl₂ concentration for maximum Ad5gagstability is 2 mM, at this pH and temperature.

EXAMPLE 6 Effect of Polysorbate on the Stability of Human Adenovirus 5

The effect of polysorbate-80 (PS-80) on the stability of Ad5gag is shownin FIG. 17. It is clear from the data that polysorbate is necessary foroptimum Ad5gag stability over a wide range of temperatures.

The results of the first experiment to examine the effect of PS-80concentration on Ad5gag stability is shown in FIG. 18 above. The resultsstrongly suggest that PS-80 concentrations higher than the 0.005% arenecessary for optimum Ad5gag stability in A105.

In another experiment to examine the effect of PS-80 the concentrationwas varied from 0.005% to 0.15%, as shown above in FIG. 19. The resultsfrom the accelerated stability studies at 25 and 30° C. suggested that0.1% PS-80 is the optimum concentration for maximum stability. However,the optimum PS-80 concentration may be different at lower temperatures(ongoing studies).

The effect of polysorbate type on Ad5gag stability has also beenexamined. The data shown in FIG. 20 above show a comparison of theAd5gag stability in formulations containing either PS-80 or PS-40 at twoconcentrations. PS-40 was chosen because it lacks unsaturation and ismore stable to oxidation than PS-80. The results at 25° C. indicate thatAd5gag was more stable in the PS-40 containing formulations than in theequivalent PS-80 formulation. The 30° C. results indicated that Ad5gagwas more stable with PS-40 at 0.005% but less stable at 0.1%. These datasuggest that PS-40 provides some stability advantage over PS-80 at 25°C. or lower.

EXAMPLE 7 Effect of Adenovirus Concentration on the Storage Stability at37° C., in A105

Ad5gag was formulated at 10⁹ and 10¹¹ vp/mL in A105 and placed onstability at 37° C. Infectivity was determined after 3, 7, 10, 14 and 21days. The results, shown in FIG. 21, clearly indicate that Ad5gagconcentration did not have a significant effect of stability at 37° C.

The data in FIGS. 24-26 (discussed in Example 10 below) also show noeffect of Ad5gag concentration on stability at −70° C. and −15° C.,between 10⁷ and 10¹¹ vp/mL.

EXAMPLE 8 Enhancement of Adenovirus Stability by Inhibitors of FreeRadical Oxidation

The first experiment to test the susceptibility of Ad5gag to freeradical oxidation was designed to explore the effects of ascorbic acidand trace amounts of Fe⁺² and Fe⁺³ added to A105. Since ascorbic acid isa potent accelerator for free radical oxidation catalyzed by trace metalions we reasoned that ascorbic acid would quickly inactivate Ad5gag ifit were sensitive to free radical oxidation. We also tested the effectsof added Fe⁺² and Fe⁺³ since they also might be expected to increase therate of free radical oxidation. Fe+2 in particular is a very potentaccelerator for hydroxyl radical production from hydrogen peroxide. Theresults, shown in FIG. 22, clearly indicate that Ad5gag is verysusceptible to free radical oxidation induced by both ascorbic acid (inA125) and iron. These results also suggested that it was likely thatfree radical oxidation may be a major mechanism of inactivation forAd5gag in A105.

To determine whether free radical oxidation is a major pathway forinactivation of Ad5gag four different inhibitors of free radicaloxidation were tested at three different storage temperatures. Theresults, shown in FIG. 23, indicate that each free radical inhibitorenhanced the stability of Ad5gag, at each storage temperature. Theseresults strongly suggest that free radical oxidation is a major pathwayof Ad5gag inactivation over a wide range of temperatures.

EXAMPLE 9 Effect of Formulation on Lot to Lot Variability in Ad5gagStability

The stability of Ad5gag was evaluated in eight different lots and inthree different formulations (A105, A111 and A113) after one month ofstorage at 30° C. The data shown below in Table 1 indicate that therewas significant variability in the stability of Ad5gag from differentlots, in formulations A105 and A111. However, the data also show thatthe stability of each lot of Ad5gag was improved in formulation A113compared to A105 or A111 and that the variability was also reduced.These data suggest that variations in the rate of free radical oxidationis a major source of the stability variations seen from lot to lot ofAd5gag.

TABLE 1 Effect of Formulation on lot to lot variability in the stabilityof Ad5gag* Log loss of infectivity after one month at 30° C. vs −70° C.control in:** Ad5gag lot A105 A111 A113 1 0.91 0.94 0.55 2 0.75 0.690.20 3 0.62 0.60 0.26 4 0.53 0.60 0.23 5 0.56 1.09 0.30 6 0.51 0.63 0.277 0.95 1.07 0.28 8 0.68 0.80 0.34 *Ad5gag concentration was 1.0 × 10⁸vp/mL **Loss of infectivity was determined by QPA assay.

EXAMPLE 10 Leading Human Adenovirus 5 Formulations Based on Acceleratedand Real-Time Stability Data

Based on 6 month stability data Ad5gag in A105 is an acceptable frozenliquid formulation for storage at either −70° C. or −15° C. (see FIG.24). Moreover, the stability of Ad5gag in A105 is higher than in any ofthe other initial candidate formulations (A102-A104, A106, A107). Theloss of Ad5gag infectivity in A105 at 2-8° C. will be approximately0.37-0.44 logs/year, suggesting that further improvements in recombinantadenovirus stability are warranted.

Table 1 shows the estimated rate of infectivity loss of exemplifiedadenoviral formulations. The rate of infectivity loss of variousformulations is shown, based on 6 months of stability data at both 2-8°C. and 15° C. Although the 2-8° C. stability data was generated at theintended storage condition the infectivity losses were very small anddifficult to measure accurately. Therefore, the rate of infectivity losswas also estimated from an extrapolation of the 15° C. stability dataand the activation energy for Ad5gag inactivation using the pH 7.4pathway (the most conservative extrapolation). The slope of theArrhenius plot for the pH 7.4 inactivation pathway (see FIG. 11)suggests that Ad5gag should have a shelf life 3.3 times as long at 5° C.as it does at 15° C.

TABLE 2 Estimated rate Estimated rate of infectivity of infectivity loss(logs/year) loss (logs/year) Ad5gag (based on 6 month (based on 6 monthformulation 2-8° C. data) 15° C. data) A105 0.37 0.44 A111 0.14 0.18A113 <0.1 0.14 A114 <0.1 0.28 A115 0.14 0.36 A116 <0.1 0.14 A117 <0.10.19 A120 <0.1 0.13

EXAMPLE 11 Effects of EDTA/EtOH and PS-80 Concentration on the Stabilityof Human Adenovirus 5

The observation that free radical oxidation is a major mechanism ofAd5gag inactivation during storage has paved the way for the design ofadditional Ad5gag formulations much more stable than Ad5gag in A105. Asshown above, a formulation containing 100 μM EDTA and 0.5% ethanol in anA105 base (A113) shows enhanced stability at 2-8° C. and is anespecially preferred formulation of the present invention.

It should be noted that only one formulation lacking free radicaloxidation inhibitors provides nearly the same degree of stabilization toAd5gag as do the formulations containing the inhibitors. Thisformulation (A111) contains 0.1% PS-80, but is otherwise the same asA105. These results suggest that optimization of the polysorbate typeand concentration is also very important to maximum Ad5gag stability andalso suggests that polysorbate may be affecting a different inactivationpathway than the oxidation inhibitors. Therefore, combining 0.1% PS-80and EDTA/EtOH in a single formulation (A136) may possibly inhibit twodifferent inactivation pathways. The results in FIG. 27 show data totest this hypothesis. The results indicate that the stability enhancingeffects of 0.1% PS-80 and EDTA/EtOH appear to be additive at 25° C. butnot at 30° C. Since data from other experiments suggest that highpolysorbate concentrations may be somewhat less beneficial to Ad5gagstability at ≧30° C. (see FIG. 20) the data generated at 25° C. may be abetter predictor of the stability enhancement at 2-8° C. In summary,Ad5gag in a formulation containing the combination of EDTA/EtOH and 0.1%polysorbate (A136) was more stable than in formulations with eitherEDTA/EtOH (A113) or 0.1% polysorbate (A111) alone.

EXAMPLE 12 Additional Formulations Containing Free Radical OxidationInhibitors

The combination of EDTA and ethanol was found to greatly enhance thestability of Ad5gag, as shown in FIGS. 23 and 27. The data in FIG. 28shows the effects of varying the concentration of ethanol and the effectof EDTA alone and ethanol alone, on the stability of adenovirus. Theresults indicate that the combination of 100 μM EDTA and 0.5% ethanol(in A113) provided the greatest enhancement of adenovirus stabilityafter 2 months at 30° C., compared to adenovirus in A105. The resultsalso showed that EDTA alone and ethanol alone each enhanced thestability of adenovirus. However, increasing the ethanol concentrationfrom 0.5% to 1% (compare A132 to A134) did not provide any additionalenhancement of adenovirus stability, at this temperature. Thecombination of high PS-80 (0.1%) and EDTA/Ethanol (in A136) providedapproximately the same degree of stability enhancement as EDTA/Ethanolwith 0.005% PS-80 (in A113), at 30° C. However, adenovirus was found tobe more stable in A136 than in A113 at 25° C., see FIG. 27. In anotherformulation, A137, the addition of 1 mg/mL plasmid DNA was found toenhance the stability of adenovirus, compared to adenovirus in A105.

EXAMPLE 13 Long-Term Stability of Ad5gag in Selected Formulations

The long-term stability of Ad5gag in twelve different formulations isshown in FIG. 29. These data show the log loss of Ad5gag infectivityafter 18 months in storage at 2-8° C. Based on these data the loss ofAd5gag infectivity in A105 was 0.33 logs/year, close to the estimatemade in Example 10 above using the data from FIG. 23. These data clearlyshow that the addition of free radical oxidation inhibitors (informulations A113, A114, A116-A121) enhance the stability of adenovirusduring storage at 2-8° C. In this experiment the most stableformulations were A111, A113, A114, A117 and A120, which demonstratesthe ability of EDTA/EtOH, DTPA, TEOA and mannitol to inhibit freeradical oxidation and the stabilizing effects of higher concentrationsof polysorbate 80 (0.1% in A111).

In another experiment the long-term stability of Ad5gag was evaluated infifteen formulations after one year of storage at 2-8° C. The results,shown in FIG. 30, indicate that the most stable formulation was A136,which is similar to A113 except that the polysorbate 80 concentration is0.1%. Ad5gag in A135 was also found to be more stable than in A105 andA113, suggesting that the optimal concentration of ethanol in A113 maybe near 1%. However, because the variability of the QPA assay is ˜0.15logs it is not clear whether the other tested formulations are morestable than A05. These data also showed lower stability for Ad5gag inA111 compared to A105, a result that is inconsistent with the data inFIGS. 29 and 32.

In a third long-term study the stability of Ad5gag was examined after 9months at 2-8° C. and 15° C. in eight formulations. The results, shownin FIG. 31, are consistent with those shown in FIGS. 27-29, and indicatethat Ad5gag in A113 is more stable than in A105 at 2-8° C. and 15° C.The main purpose of this experiment was to determine whether acombination of free radical oxidation inhibitors would improve thestability of Ad5gag compared to Ad5gag in A113. The 15° C. stabilitydata show that the most stable formulations in this experiment wereA149, A151b, A152 and A153 and suggest that the combination of EDTA/EtOHwith either mannitol (in A149), histidine (in A151b), histidine and TEOA(in A152) or histidine, TEOA, and glycerol (in A153) may enhance thestability of Ad5gag compared to A113. An examination of the Ad5gaginfectivity at time zero indicated a decrease in infectivity for A149,suggesting that this formulation may not be completely stable tofreeze/thaw cycles and that sucrose or some other sugar should be addedto enhance its stability through freeze/thaw cycles. The data shown inFIG. 29 support this hypothesis since formulation A121 contains 5%sucrose in addition to 3% mannitol, and was stable through at least onefreeze/thaw cycle from −70° C. to 2-8° C.

EXAMPLE 14 Stability of Leading Ad5gag Formulations Compared to ThirdParty Adenovirus Formulations

Adenovirus formulations have recently been disclosed in PCT publicationnumber WO 98/02522 (Transgene) and WO 99/41416 (Schering-Plough). Tocompare the stability of Ad5gag in the formulations of the presentinvention with these formulations, a stability study was conducted withAd5gag in A105, A111, A113, A136, one formulation from WO 98/02522(TG#2) and five formulations from WO 99/41416 (SP#1-SP#5), at 10⁸ vp/mL,as described below.

-   TG#2 10 mM Tris, 150 mM NaCl, 1 M Sucrose, 1 mM MgCl₂, 0.005%    Polysorbate-80, pH 8.5;-   SP#1 1.7 mg/ml Sodium Phosphate Monobasic Dihydrate, 1.7 mg/ml Tris,    0.4 mg/ml MgCl₂, 20 mg/ml Sucrose, 0.15 mg/ml PS-80, 100 mg/ml    Glycerol, pH 7.53;-   SP#2 1.7 mg/ml Sodium Phosphate Monobasic Dihydrate, 1.7 mg/ml Tris,    0.4 mg/ml MgCl₂, 20 mg/ml Sucrose, 0.15 mg/ml PS-80, 100 mg/ml    Glycerol, pH 7.36;-   SP#3 1.7 mg/ml Sodium Phosphate Monobasic Dihydrate, 1.7 mg/ml Tris,    0.4 mg/ml MgCl2, 20 mg/ml Sucrose, 100 mg/ml Glycerol, pH 7.6;-   SP#4 1.7 mg/ml Sodium Phosphate Monobasic Dihydrate, 1.7 mg/ml Tris,    0.4 mg/ml MgCl2, 20 mg/ml Sucrose, 100 mg/ml Glycerol, pH 7.37;-   SP#5 1.7 mg/ml Sodium Phosphate Monobasic Dihydrate, 1.7 mg/ml Tris,    0.4 mg/ml MgCl2, 20 mg/ml Sucrose, 5.8 mg/ml NaCl, 100 mg/ml    Glycerol, pH 7.53.

FIG. 32 shows the data after 9 months of storage at 2-8° C. and 15° C.These results clearly indicate that Ad5gag was more stable in each ofthe formulations of the present invention than in TG#2 or in SP#1 orSP#2. Because data generated after one month of storage at 15° C.indicated that Ad5gag in SP#3, SP#4 and SP#5 lost more than one log ofinfectivity, these formulations were not examined at the 9 monthtimepoint. Consistent with the data in FIGS. 18-20 and 29, Ad5gag inA111 was more stable than in A105. Also consistent with the data shownin FIGS. 23, 27-29 and 31, Ad5gag was more stable in A113 than in A105.

The present invention is not to be limited in scope by the specificembodiments described herein. Indeed, various modifications of theinvention in addition to those described herein will become apparent tothose skilled in the art from the foregoing description. Suchmodifications are intended to fall within the scope of the appendedclaims.

1. A virus formulation comprising: a) a purified virus; b) a buffer; c)a sugar; d) a salt; e) a divalent cation; f) a non-ionic detergent; and,g) an EDTA/ethanol combination.
 2. A virus formulation of claim 1 with avirus concentration in the range from about 1×10⁷ vp/mL to about 1×10¹³vp/mL and a total osmolarity in a range from about 200 mOs/L to about800 mOs/L.
 3. A virus formulation of claim 1 with a virus concentrationin the range from about 1×10⁷ vp/mL to about 1×10¹³ vp/mL, wherein thebuffer is a Tris buffer, at a pH from about 7.0 to about 9.0.
 4. A virusformulation of claim 3 wherein the sugar is sucrose at a weight tovolume percentage from about 2% to about 7.5% and the salt is sodiumchloride from about 25 mM to about 250 mM, such that the totalosmolarity of the formulation is a range from about 200 mOs/L to about800 mOs/L.
 5. A virus formulation of claim 4 wherein the divalent cationis selected from the group consisting of MgCl₂ and CaCl₂ in an amountfrom about 0.1 mM to about 5 mM.
 6. A virus formulation of claim 5wherein the non-ionic detergent is selected from the group consisting ofPolysorbate-80 and Polysorbate-40 at a concentration range from about0.001% to about 2%.
 7. A virus formulation of claim 1 further comprisinghistidine.
 8. A virus formulation of claim 1 with a concentration in therange from about 1×10⁷ vp/mL to about 1×10¹³ vp/mL and a totalosmolarity in a range from about 200 mOs/L to about 800 mOs/L wherein,said buffer is about 1 mM Tris to about 10 mM Tris to provide a pH rangefrom about pH 7.5 to about pH 8.5; said sugar is sucrose present in aweight to volume range of about 2% to about 8%; said salt is NaClpresent in a range from about 25 mM to about 250 mM; said divalentcation is MgCl₂ in a range from about 0.1 mM to about 5 mM; saidsurfactant is Polysorbate-80 at a concentration from about 0.001% toabout 0.25%; and said EDTA/ethanol combination is a combination of EDTAfrom about 1 μM to about 500 μM and ethanol from about 0.1% to about5.0%; and further comprising histidine from 5 mM to 10 mM.
 9. A virusformulation of claim 8, wherein EDTA is at about 100 μM and ethanol isat about 0.5%.
 10. A virus formulation of claim 2 comprising adenovirusand a formulation selected from the group consisting of formulationnumber A151b, A155, A159, A165, A167, A168, A169, A170, A171, A172 andA173.
 11. An adenovirus formulation comprising a purified adenovirus andan EDTA/ethanol combination.
 12. An adenovirus formulation of claim 11further comprising a buffer, a sugar, a salt, a divalent cation, and anon-ionic detergent.
 13. An adenovirus formulation of claim 12 with anadenovirus concentration in the range from about 1×10⁷ vp/mL to about1×10¹³ vp/ml and a total osmolarity in a range from about 200 mOs/L toabout 800 mOs/L.
 14. An adenovirus formulation of claim 13, wherein thebuffer is a Tris buffer, at a pH from about 7.0 to about 9.0.
 15. Anadenovirus formulation of claim 14 wherein the sugar is sucrose at aweight to volume percentage from about 2% to about 7.5% and the salt issodium chloride from about 25 mM to about 250 mM.
 16. An adenovirusformulation of claim 15 wherein the divalent cation is selected from thegroup consisting of MgCl₂ and CaCl₂ in an amount from about 0.1 mM toabout 5 mM.
 17. An adenovirus formulation of claim 16 wherein thenon-ionic detergent is selected from the group consisting ofPolysorbate-80 and Polysorbate-40 at a concentration range from about0.001% to about 2%.
 18. An adenovirus formulation of claim 11,comprising: about 1 mM Tris to about 10 mM Tris to provide a pH rangefrom about pH 7.5 to about pH 8.5; sucrose in a weight to volume rangeof about 2% to about 8%; NaCl in a range from about 25 mM to about 250mM; MgCl₂ in a range from about 0.1 mM to about 5 mM; Polysorbate-80 ata concentration from about 0.001% to about 0.25%; EDTA from about 1 μMto about 500 μM; and ethanol from about 0.1% to about 5.0%.
 19. Anadenovirus formulation of claim 18, wherein EDTA is present from about50 μM to about 250 μM, ethanol is present from about 0.25% to about 2.0%and further comprising histidine from 5 mM to 10 mM.
 20. An adenovirusformulation of claim 12 further comprising histidine.
 21. An adenovirusformulation of claim 12 wherein the sugar is sucrose at a weight tovolume percentage from about 2% to about 7.5% and the salt is sodiumchloride from about 25 mM to about 250 mM, such that the totalosmolarity of the formulation is a range from about 200 mOs/L to about800 mOs/L.
 22. An adenovirus formulation of claim 21 wherein thedivalent cation is selected from the group consisting of MgCl₂ and CaCl₂in an amount from about 0.1 mM to about 5 mM.
 23. An adenovirusformulation of claim 22 wherein the non-ionic detergent is selected fromthe group consisting of Polysorbate-80 and Polysorbate-40 at aconcentration range from about 0.001% to about 2%.
 24. An adenovirusformulation of claim 12 comprising adenovirus and a formulation selectedfrom the group consisting of formulation number A151b, A155, A159, A165,A167, A168, A169, A170, A171, A172 and A173.
 25. An adenovirusformulation of claim 20 wherein the sugar is sucrose at a weight tovolume percentage from about 2% to about 7.5% and the salt is sodiumchloride from about 25 mM to about 250 mM, such that the totalosmolarity of the formulation is a range from about 200 mOs/L to about800 mOs/L.
 26. An adenovirus formulation of claim 25 wherein thedivalent cation is selected from the group consisting of MgCl₂ and CaCl₂in an amount from about 0.1 mM to about 5 mM.
 27. An adenovirusformulation of claim 26 wherein the non-ionic detergent is selected fromthe group consisting of Polysorbate-80 and Polysorbate-40 at aconcentration range from about 0.001% to about 2%.
 28. An adenovirusformulation of claim 27 with an adenovirus concentration in the rangefrom about 1×10⁷ vp/mL to about 1×10¹³ vp/mL, wherein the buffer is aTris buffer, at a pH from about 7.0 to about 9.0.
 29. An adenovirusformulation of claim 12, wherein said purified adenovirus is present ina concentration in the range from about 1×10⁷ vp/mL to about 1×10¹³vp/mL; the total osmolarity in a range from about 200 mOs/L to about 800mOs/L; said buffer is about 1 mM Tris to about 10 mM Tris to provide apH range from about pH 7.5 to about pH 8.5; said sugar is sucrosepresent in a weight to volume range of about 2% to about 8%; said saltis NaCI is present in a range from about 25 mM to about 250 mM; saiddivalent cation is MgCl₂ in a range from about 0.1 mM to about 5 mM;said surfactant is Polysorbate-80 at a concentration from about 0.001%to about 0.25%; and said EDTA/ethanol combination is a combination ofEDTA from about 1 μM to about 500 μM, ethanol from about 0.1% to about5.0%; and, said formulation further comprises histidine.
 30. Anadenovirus formulation of claim 29, wherein EDTA is at about 100 μM,ethanol is at about 0.5% and histidine is present from 5 mM to 10 mM.31. An adenovirus formulation with an adenovirus concentration in therange from about 1×10⁷ vp/mL to about 1×10¹³ vp/mL and a totalosmolarity in a range from about 200 mOs/L to about 800 mOs/L whichcomprises from about 5.0 mM to about 10 mM Tris at a pH from about 7.0to about 9.0, sucrose at about 5% weight/volume, NaCl at about 75 mM,MgCl₂ from about 1 mM to 2 mM, Polysorbate-80 from about 0.005% to about0.1% weight/volume, EDTA at about 100 μM, ethanol at about 0.5%weight/volume, and histidine from about 5 mM to about 10 mM.
 32. Anadenovirus formulation of claim 31 wherein the Tris buffer is present atabout 10 mM, sucrose at about 5% weight/volume, NaCl at about 75 mM,MgCl₂ at about 1 mM, Polysorbate-80 from about 0.02% weight/volume, EDTAat about 100 μM, ethanol at about 0.5% weight/volume, and histidine atabout 10 mM.
 33. An adenovirus formulation comprising a recombinantadenovirus and an EDTA/ethanol combination.
 34. An adenovirusformulation of claim 33 further comprising a buffer, a sugar, a salt, adivalent cation, and a non-ionic detergent.
 35. An adenovirusformulation of claim 34 wherein the sugar is sucrose at a weight tovolume percentage from about 2% to about 7.5% and the salt is sodiumchloride from about 25 mM to about 250 mM, such that the totalosmolarity of the formulation is a range from about 200 mOs/L to about800 mOs/L.
 36. An adenovirus formulation of claim 35 wherein thedivalent cation is selected from the group consisting of MgCl₂ and CaCl₂in an amount from about 0.1 mM to about 5 mM and the non-ionic detergentis selected from the group consisting of Polysorbate-80 andPolysorbate-40 at a concentration range from about 0.001% to about 2%.37. An adenovirus formulation of claim 34, comprising: about 1 mM Tristo about 10 mM Tris to provide a pH range from about pH 7.5 to about pH8.5; sucrose in a weight to volume range of about 2% to about 8%; NaClin a range from about 25 mM to about 250 mM; MgCl₂ in a range from about0.1 mM to about 5 mM; Polysorbate-80 at a concentration from about0.001% to about 0.25%; EDTA from about 1 μM to about 500 μM; and ethanolfrom about 0.1% to about 5.0%.